STF

Pre-Sim: Arrival on board

Posted Oct. 16, 2019, 11:04 p.m. by Ensign Kiama Naim (Scientist) (Silke Fahl)

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Maxwell Wynter (Chief Engineer / 2nd Officer) in Pre-Sim: Arrival on board

Posted by Ensign Kiama Naim (Scientist) in Pre-Sim: Arrival on board

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Maxwell Wynter (Chief Engineer / 2nd Officer) in Pre-Sim: Arrival on board
Posted by… suppressed (5) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

“Of course, I’m always happy to help,” the scientist replied with a bright smile, trying in vain to regain something like composure and proper demeanour. Crouching down, she reached for the tricorder and flipped it open. “What should or shouldn’t the readings say?” she asked as she pointed the tricorder in the indicated direction.

“We want the flow rate between 97.36 percent and 98.25 percent, If it goes over that things get touchy, too low and we don’t have the response time or energy needed in case we get into a pickle. Thanks for helping by the way,” pushing up with his legs, Max fed himself back into the hole in the wall with his legs sticking out once more and began to adjust the flow with a phase coil resonator. Once he had adjusted part of the grid, he reached back out to where her foot had been, found it again and tapped it twice. “You can start scanning now, let me know how the flow holds up.”

“Will do,” and with that Kiama pointed the tricorder in the indicated direction and started scanning.

While she kept her eyes on the tricorder readings, Kiama mused, “A Vole? I wouldn’t have expected Cardassians, or anyone really, to keep one as a pet. Then again I never really understood why people keep pets at all.”

~Ensign Naim, Scientist

“It’s the social aspect,” Max said, sounding convinced. “They love you and don’t judge you, or complain when you leave your things lying around. They give you amusement and take your attention away from troubles after a bad day. I think it’s the connection you get from them, treat them right and they will be forever loyal to you. Kind of like how Engineers behave with their ships and machinery.” She couldn’t see his face or he hers, but the sound of his voice would key her in that he was grinning as he said the last part.

“Hmm…” Kiama nodded some even though Max wouldn’t be able to see her of course and pondered that a few moments. Eventually she said, “I guess I can see your point. Though for us Betazoids, pets and animals in general can be a challenge. But I assume that would be rather different when you can’t read them as we do. Shutting out the emotions of animals tends to be more difficult than humanoid emotions.”

“So you’re Science? I haven’t seen you on the Manhattan before. You must be part of the new crew intake from the Station? Welcome to the Delta Quadrant, I’m Max.”

Lt Cmdr Wynter, CE

“Yes, indeed. I actually only arrived a few minutes ago. I haven’t even checked in with my department head or anything,” Kiama grinned. She didn’t think that the Chief Science Officer would expect her to come to her office the moment she set a foot on this ship. Not that she meant to put it off, though, but she wanted to arrive first and have at least a brief look at her quarters before tackling her to-do list. “Are you the Chief Engineer?” she continued, drawing her conclusion regarding his position from the pips she had briefly spotted on his collar.

~Ensign Naim, Scientist

“Don’t tell anyone, but that’s what they pay me for yeah,” Max quipped easily. “On that note, that light show you might have seen before I found your foot? It was totally on purpose, I had to make sure it was broken see?” Again his voice held the note of a joke. “How’s the flow rate going? It looks ok from down here.”

“Of course,” Kiama replied with a twinkle in her eyes and a soft chuckle. Hearing the tone of his voice and feeling his positive emotions, multiplied her own excited and good mood. “It’s all in the green,” she added after making sure that it really was; despite the fact that she hadn’t moved her eyes off the tricorder since she took it into her hands.

“Did you have any pets when you were little? I hear that there is a cat species on Betazed that is popular? On Mintara where I come from, it’s dogs. Everybody has a dog on Mintara Prime. When I was a kid, I had one called Kipper. He slept a lot.” Max’s hand appeared and he dropped the tool he was using beside him, going back for the hyperspanner and starting to adjust more.

Lt Cmdr Wynter, CE

“No, never. My mother wouldn’t allow it and I never really felt drawn to having a pet. You are correct, though, there is an animal on Betazed that is similar to cats on Earth. But it isn’t always easy to find one that gets along with every member of the family and I don’t think there is a single one that would take kindly towards my mother,” Kiama replied, trying to keep the discontent and maybe even bitterness out of her voice as much as possible. Diverting the conversation back to the chief engineer, she continued without a pause, “So what did Kipper look like? Was he a certain breed or a mix?”

~Ensign Naim, Scientist

Pausing in his work, Max again put his hand on the top of the panel he was working through and pulled himself down so he could look at her. “I know how that mother thing goes,” his face was serious as he registered the sound of her voice, it had changed just ever so subtly but he didn’t know exactly what that meant. “My own mother and mother-in-law are the terrors of the comm line. Being Mintaran means there are certain expectations after marriage and a career in Starfleet doesn’t really go with those expectations.” He pulled himself back up into the hatchway again and started the final adjustments he wanted to make.

“Tell me about expectations and Starfleet not fitting into them,” Kiama muttered under her breath before pushing all thoughts of her mother to the back of her mind.

“Kipper was what we called a long haired black labrador,” he explained as he worked. “He was relaxed and friendly, the perfect friend to a boy who got himself into too much trouble and was sent outside to play a lot. As we grew he went camping with me a lot. He was my best friend for years till he passed on, but he was 12 when he did, so he was pretty old by then.” Stopping work, he checked over the adjustments and then pulled himself out of the hole properly, sitting up and looking at the Scientist. “How we reading? Are we locked and loaded?”

Lt Cmdr Wynter, CE

A soft smile played around her lips as she listened to the chief. Even though she didn’t really care for having a pet - not anymore, anyway - she couldn’t help being touched by his words and all the positive emotions connected with his memories. “He does sound like a great friend,” Kiama replied. And depending on how much attention Max paid to the tone of her voice, he might be able to detect a faint hint of longing, maybe even something akin to jealousy. “As for the readings, they are right now at 97.98, so we are indeed locked and loaded,” she continued with a soft chuckle.

~Ensign Naim, Scientist

“Excellent! That means we are done here,” he exclaimed, and then casually picked up the scattered tools and placed them in his kit before pushing himself to his feet and brushing himself off. Making sure his tunic was smoothed out and free of as many wrinkles as he could get to, Max let his eyes rest on the scientist for a moment. “The Manhattan is like that, you know,” his voice was softer, maybe he had indeed heard the way her voice had changed. “We’re a tight knit group, we have to be. Support from the rest of Starfleet is a long, long way away. You’ll make a few great friends here. Trust me.”

Lockig her gaze with his, Kiama nodded some. “I hope so,” she replied with a soft smile. “And if everyone is as friendly as you are, I’m sure I will. Though hopefully that won’t require me spending a lot of time in Engineering,” she chuckled before adding hastily and with blood rushing to her cheeks, “Not because I don’t like Engineering or engineers, though. I do. I’m just not good with hypospanners and all that. So believe me, you do not want me down there except for reading data off a tricoder or computer screen.”

“But, I suppose seeing as you aren’t officially part of the crew yet until you check in and get settled, I should probably get that back,” Max pointed at the Tricorder in her hands with a grin. “So what should I call you?” Max asked her, realizing that he didn’t yet know her name after their discussion and her helping hand. “What sort of Science are you interested in out here?”

Lt Cmdr Wynter, CE

“Oh right.” With a soft laugh she handed him the tricorder with her left hand and almost simultaneously extended her right one and continued, “My name is Ensign Kiama Naim.” In her mind she still automatically continued with Daughter of the seventh house of Betazed and could kick herself for that. Though at least she wasn’t saying it out loud anymore. Instead she said, “I got a degree in neuroscience from the University of Betazed and I continued my studies in that field at the Academy. But I also pursued exobiology and socio-cultural anthropology and got a minor in those fields as well. So what I’m mostly interested in with regard to this ships mission is encountering new cultures and learning all I can about them. I’m not sure how much neuroscience I’m going to do here. After all, I have a feeling that most people wouldn’t like me to take extensive and in-depth scans of their brains to analyse and compare them.”

“What’s your name, Sir? And what did you specialise in? she asked with sincere interest.

~Ensign Naim, Scientist


Posts on USS Manhattan

In topic

Posted since


© 1991-2024 STF. Terms of Service

Version 1.15.9